Bail Set at $300K For Driver Charged in Fatal Edgewater Pedestrian Crash

Authorities say Vladimir Tsemekhman was speeding and ran a red light when he caused a chain reaction crash that killed 71-year-old Frank Kiley

Bail was set Friday at $300,000 for a driver who police say plowed into parked cars on Chicago's North Side, fatally pinning a man between two cars and injuring five others.

Vladimir Tsemekhman, 58, is charged with one count of reckless homide and several moving violations including reckless driving, disobeying a red signal stop, failure to reduce speed and stay in lanes.

Authorities say Tsemekhman was driving at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at a traffic light.

Frank Kiley, 71, died and multiple others were injured in the crash involving three cars and a Chicago Transit Authority bus shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday at Sheridan Road and Balmoral Avenue. Kiley's fiancée was nearby and almost became a victim herself.

"He was at the back opening trunk, I was on the side helping him," Wilma Deveyra said. "I some heard loud explosion. All I know I was right on the ground, and I could not get up."

Witnesses said a car was trying to pass the bus when it hit two parked cars, one of which then hit the bus. Kiley, who had just picked up groceries from the Care for Real food pantry, was loading his car when he was pinned between two vehicles.

A CTA spokeswoman said the northbound No. 147 bus was standing at the intersection when it was struck. The bus didn't make contact with pedestrians, she said. The bus operator was uninjured but was transported to the hospital for observation. A passenger on the bus requested medical attention for what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries, according to preliminary information.

7/30/2014: One person was killed and multiple others were injured in the crash. The victim’s fiance was right beside him when the accident happened. NBC 5’s Natalie Martinez reports.
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